I recently read The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. This books is a witty and somewhat accurate account of The Great Gold Robbery of 1855 in which £12,000 worth of gold bars were stolen from a moving train. The book details the motivation, planning, and difficulties of the robbery as well as the eventual arrest and escape of Edward Pierce, the mastermind behind it all. A quick and entertaining read, it was filled with clever schemes plus a healthy does of Victorian era factoids and slang. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to read something light, yet clever.
Following the book, I bought the movie which stars Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and Lesley-Anne Down. The movie was written and directed by Michael Crichton which must be why it is almost exactly like the book. Once you can get past the grainy picture quality (the DVD obviously wasn’t remastered) and the old-school acting style, the movie is pretty good at bringing out a little extra of the story’s dry wit that you can only get from actors. Personally, I think it’s a good candidate for a remake.
